Brash Maine defense lawyer in Zumba brothel case dies at 79

Attorneys in the News

Dan Lilley, a brash defense lawyer who was involved in many of Maine's highest profile cases including a prostitution scandal at a Zumba studio and the case of a restaurateur who shot her husband 15 times, has died. He was 79.

Lilley died Saturday night at Maine Medical Center, his law office said Monday. The cause of death was not immediately released.

Lilley was known as a tough, old-school defense attorney and was sometimes called a maverick in the courtroom.

"He was a guy to be cherished if you had a good cause and had Dan at your side — and feared if you were on the wrong side," said F. Lee Bailey, another prominent attorney who was part of the defense team at O.J. Simpson's murder trial.

Lilley used a "battered wife syndrome" defense to win acquittal for an Ogunquit (oh-GUHNG'-kwit) restaurateur who in 1990 shot her husband so many times she had to stop to reload.

More recently, he represented insurance agent Mark Strong, who was accused of serving as the business partner of a Zumba instructor accused of running a brothel in Kennebunk.

The scandal in Kennebunk, a village known more for its sea captains' homes and beaches than crime, attracted international attention.

"In the middle of the circus that was Mark Strong's trial, Dan was undoubtedly the ringleader, bringing an air of drama and comedy — in equal measure — to the proceedings," said Tina Nadeau, who served alongside him during that trial.

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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.